Wheel-rim



W. A. JOHNSON.

- WHEEL RIM.

(No Mpdel.)

Patented Mar. 2, 1897.

20222200 a. fiivzflazz.

UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

, WILLIAM A. JOHNSON, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO A. IVAL'IER JOHNSON, OF COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWVA.

WHEEL-RIM..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 578,292, dated March 2, 1897.

Application filed July 1, 1896. Serial No. 597.744. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful W heel- Rim, of which the following is a specification. This invention relates to wheel-rims, and particularly to the wood rims of bicycles and similar vehicles. The object of the present invention is to produce a wood rim in which the liability to warp, split, or get out of true is entirely overcome, the rim being at the same time greatly strengthened and improved.

To this end the invention consistsin a wood rim composed of a plurality of sections and embodying certain novel features and details of construction hereinafter particularly described, illustrated in the drawings, and incorporated in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a wood rim constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the outer surface thereof. Fig. 4 is a similar view of the inner surface of the same. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one of the rim-sections.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

The improved rim contemplated in the pres ent invention is composed of a plurality of similar sections, the length and number of which may be varied to suit the manufacturer and the size or diameter of the rim. Each section (indicated at 1) is individually sawed and fashioned from a straight piece of wood and is preferably made of a length which will insure a straight grain of the wood throughout its length. Each section of the rim is cut from a piece of wood in its natural state, that is, without treating the wood in any manner or without bending the same or causing any molecular displacement, the effect of which would be to render the rim subject to warpage and splitting.

Each of the sections 1 is provided at one end with a V-shaped recess 2, extending longitudinally about half the length of the section,

and is provided at its opposite end with a tapering V-shaped tongue 3, corresponding to the recess 2 and adapted to enter and snugly fit the recess 2 of an adjoining section. The outer or peripheral surface of the rim is grooved or concaved to form the tire-seat, and the inner surface of the rim is given a convexity of any desired radius.

The sections constructed as shown and de-. scribed are associated in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1, and are preferably secured together by glue, thus forming a practicallycontinuous rim having a perfectly-straight grain and retaining the natural and original grain of the wood. The advantage of such construction must at once be apparent, as it is well known that wood in its natural state is much less liable to warp, twist, and split when put under tension than wood which has been subjected to steam or treated by other methods, and bowed or bent, so as to deviate the grain of the wood from its natural course, thus straining and displacing or shifting the Wood fibers.

It will be understood that the rim-sections 5 may be varied as to their length according to required conditions, and that various other changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invention,what is claimed as new is- 1. A wood rim composed of sections, each section being provided at one end with a V- shaped recess terminating in a single acute angle and provided at its other end with a V- shaped tongue tapered upon both its outer and inner sides to a sharp edge, the tongue of one section entering the recess of the adjoining section and extending to a point in radial alinement with or beyond the lapping portions of the next adjoining section, sub stantially as described.

2. A wood rim composed of a number of similar sections, each provided at one end with aV-shaped tongue extending longitudinally of the grain of the wood and which tapers to a sharp edge, and at its opposite end. IOO with a recess of corresponding shape also eX- tending longitudinally of the grain of the Wood, each of said sections being fashioned from a piece of Wood in its natural state Without treating or bending the same, substantially as described.

3. A wood-rimseetion having one end tapered in a direction longitudinally of the grain on both its outer and inner sides to a sharp edge, and its other end recessed longitudin ally of the grain of the Wood between its outer and inner sides to form a V-shaped seat, the said section being cut from apiece of Wood in its natural state and shaped to oonstitute a portion of a Wheel-rim Without bending or altering the fibers of the Wood, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two itnesses. I

WILLIAM A. JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

ERNEST H. BALL, HENRY ALLISON. 

